A World's New Journey
by LeSpellBinder
Summary: Akira Kurusu returns to his hometown of Kuoh. However, things are not as they seem with fallen angels, devils and angels running about. Oh well, what is a Phantom Thief to do?
1. Chapter 1

_**There is never truly an end**_

 **20/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Outside Akira's House]**

"Everything will be alright, after all, you will only be away from us for a year." His queen reassured him, "You will still have Mona with you to keep you company you know?"

"Yeah! You tell him Makoto! Just because I'm not your girlfriend does not mean I am bad company you know?"

"Shut your trap you damned cat! Don't want us to get chased out because of your meowing!" Ryuji shouted.

"Shut up Ryuji! You're also contributing to the noises!" Ann chastised.

"Is this really your hometown? It feels so… boring…"

"Nonsense, it has a truly artistic feel to it. I may come visit one day with my canvas and paint a truly beautiful image!"

"Makoto-chan is right Akira! A year will surely fly by and we will see each other again in Tokyo!" Haru chirped, attempting to lighten the mood.

Nodding, Akira Kurusu got out of the navy blue van and turned towards his family home. It looked like a fairly standard house, a two storey bungalow and with a plate reading 'Kurusu' at the entrance. Sighing, Akira turned back to his true family. To think that it would be an entire year before he could see them again. Although he was off probation, the new Tokyo government had added an additional clause into his release from prison. He was not allowed to leave his hometown of Kuoh for this entire year.

"This is gonna work out fine Akira. Besides, this ain't a good-bye and more of a see ya later, ain't it Akira?" Ryuji declared, before flashing his trademark grin and a thumbs up at Akira. Smiling, Akira replied, "Yeah. I'm certain I will see all of you again when I return to Tokyo for college. I'll message all of you later. You all might want to head back to Tokyo before it gets to late."

With a final chorus of goodbyes, Makoto started up the engine for the van and drove off back to Tokyo. Akira watched as the van slowly grew smaller into the horizon before finally disappearing. Sighing again, Akira turned and entered his home with Morgana by his side.

* * *

 **20/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's Home]**

"I'm home!" Akira shouted as he entered through the doorway. Moving out from the kitchen, Akira's mother entered the hallway. She was dressed in her usual business suit with her hair in a bun. Instead of welcoming Akira home, her eyes narrowed at the sight of Morgana and she questioned, "What is that animal you brought home?"

"What did she just call me? Can't she tell that I'm a cat!" Morgana screeched. Glaring at Morgana, Akira's mother raised an eyebrow at him in question. Calmly slipping off his shoes, Akira answered, "He's my cat and his name is Morgana. Sakura-san allowed me to keep him during my stay in Tokyo."

"Well, if it is fine with Sakura-san then it is fine with me as well as long as you take responsibility for it. Now then, your old school refused to accept you again due to your criminal record, so I have decided to enroll you in Kuoh Academy. Their pamphlet is upstairs in your room along with the uniform that is laid out on your bed. Tomorrow will be your first day and I am afraid you will have to go yourself as I have a business meeting. Now, dinner is as per normal…" Akira's mother rambled. Akira had already shut her off and began to climb the stairs to his room. Seems like his mother never changes, still nagging non-stop as per usual. It appears that his father was on another business trip overseas again. Opening the door to his bedroom, he found that the place had not changed one bit. The posters for the new Shin Megami Tensei game was still tagged on the wall, the bed was still in its original position, the closet still lined against that same wall and his desk, as barren as ever, lay beside the window. As Morgana hopped onto his bed, disturbing the Kuoh academy uniform left there, Akira removed a photo frame from his bag and placed it on the desk. The photo displayed a group picture of the Phantom Thieves at Leblanc. It had been taken a few days before entering Sae Niijima's palace and all of them were beaming from ear to ear in the picture, even Akechi. Morgana's voice snapped Akira out of his reverie as Morgana demanded, "I'm hungry Akira! Can we have dinner now?" Chuckling, Akira nodded as he picked Morgana up and returned to the kitchen.

* * *

 **[Phantom Thieves Chat Group]**

Ryuji: You settled in Akira?

Akira: It would appear so. Although I probably won't be putting up any of my old decorations. A gigantic Phantom Thief poster will be a little hard to explain to my mother.

Yusuke: Indeed.

Ann: I can't believe you are stuck there till next year! Tell you what, how about we come visit you during summer vacation? Doesn't that sound like a great idea?

Haru: That's a great idea Ann! Just because he can't come to us does not mean we can't go to him!

Makoto: Glad to hear you're fine. I think we should all get some rest. Especially you Akira, your first day is tomorrow.

Futaba: Yeah! Let's get some rest guys!

Akira: All of you are starting to sound like Morganna… Good night.

Ryuji: What's that supposed to mean?

Ryuji: Hey! Don't just ignore my message Akira! I know you read it!

* * *

 **20/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's Home]**

"That Ryuji is as demanding as ever." Morgana sighed as he read the message on Akira's phone. Both of them were currently lounging on Akira's bed. Picking up the pamphlet his mother had placed with the clothes earlier, Akira skimmed through its contents briefly. Turning to Morgana, he said, "Looks like Kuoh Academy is just like how I remembered it. A previously all girls school that turned into a co-ed one. It appears that even now, the number of girls still greatly exceeds that of the boys. Their uniform is still really weird looking though."

Stretching his body out, Morgana yawned and began to lick his paws. Akira turned to look at the what he felt was an old fashioned uniform. The long sleeved shirt worn inside of the blazer was a long sleeved button down one, unlike the turtle neck that he had worn in Shujin. "Well, I think you should be going to sleep now. Your first day is tomorrow after all. You know where your new school is right?" Morgana said with another yawn.

Nodding his head in affirmation, Akira placed his phone, glasses and the pamphlet on his table. He set his alarm on his phone for the next day before switching off the lights and going to bed.

* * *

 **XX/XX/XXXX, Xxxday**

 **[?]**

Akira was no stranger to weird dreams. After all, for the entirety of his time in Tokyo, he had been too many times to count transported to the Velvet Room in his sleep. Yet, this time as he sat up, he found his surroundings truly startling. He found himself in the centre of a gigantic water body, a water body that for some odd reason he was floating above. In front of him, a bright red Shinto gate loomed over him. At the centre of the gate stood a figure.

Frowning, Akira stood up and moved closer towards the figure. He found that the figure was in fact a lady. The lady had long blonde hair that tickled the water and was clad in a white gown. The lady's back faced Akira, preventing him from seeing her face. "Who are you?" Akira asked.

" _I think a better question would be what am I,_ " the lady replied, " _my dear Satanael._ " Akira's eyes widened in shock upon hearing that name. That had been the name of his final Persona, the one that he wielded to destroy the false god. Akira questioned the lady, "How do you know that name?"

Chuckling, the lady said, " _I do not believe the time is right for me to reveal that to you, Satanael. And yet, was your appearance in this town a coincidence or fate? You truly are a Joker, a wild card that has found your way into a game you do not understand. Do not be so wary of me, I do not intend to harm you. In fact, I wish to give you a chance to once again partake in a game. So will you accept Satanael… no, Akira Kurusu?"_

"Sorry to disappoint you lady but my days as a Phantom Thief are long behind me. We chose to give up that power and entrust the future and safety of this world to the adults. I would rather keep it as such."

" _Why do all the Wild Cards have to be so noble. The ones that came before you were also just like that, even the one that remains behind that seal. Unfortunately for you though, Akira Kurusu, fate appears to have more lined up for you than you think. I shall grant you this power as a means of defending yourself, think of it as nothing more than that. Now until we meet again, my dear Akira Kurusu, Joker or Satanael, or whatever foolish name you choose to call yourself._ "

Upon hearing those words, Akira's body began to feel heavy as he collapsed to the ground. The last thing he could remember was the ringing of bells before the blacked out.

* * *

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's Home]**

"Akira? Akira? Akira! You better wake up at this instance! You need to go to school to meet the Student Council President now!" His mother's shrill cry jolted him awake. Rubbing his eyes, Akira crawled out of bed and proceeded to grab the school uniform he hung on his door knob. Morgana was still sound asleep in bed. How lucky of him, to be able to sleep in. Akira pulled on the new school uniform, only to find it a bit too tight for his liking. He had grown bigger in his time in Tokyo partially thanks to his extra curricular activities of being a Phantom Thief and also thanks to the amount of training he had done with Ryuji. Frowning, Akira realised the uniform was indeed not to his liking. He did not enjoy having something like that black ribbon to constrict his breathing, causing him to ditch the ribbon. After grabbing his bag and phone and putting on his glasses, Akira left his room only to get chased by his mother out of the house without any breakfast.

* * *

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Akira was shocked at the massive campus sprawling out in front of him. The academy looked so grand and it so much resembled a mansion from the entrance. Entering through the gates, Akira could not help but feel a sense of grandeur emanating from the building. Since it was still a good hour before school began, the number of students at the moment was scarce. Luckily he managed to get here early on his first day of school without any castles to mess it up. Tucking his hands in his pocket, Akira entered the school building.

It had taken Akira a good fifteen minutes to locate the Student Council Room. He still could not believe how big the school was. He wondered where on earth they could have managed to get the funds to even build a school of this size and scale. Raising his hand, he knocked on the doors of the room. "Enter." A female voice rang out from the inside. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Akira entered the Student Council Room.

The room definitely looked different from its Shujin academy counterpart. The room was well furnished with many sofas at its centre along with a glass table. There were quite a few book shelves in the room as well. Yet, it was not hard to tell that the main focus on the room was that of the large ornate wooden table. At the table sat a bespectacled girl with her black hair styled in a short bob. Her violet eyes surveyed Akira as she said, "You must be the transfer student, Akira Kurusu. I am Souna Shitori, the Student Council President of this school. You shall address me as Kaichou, Kurusu. I see that you have already ditched the school ribbon and have left your blazer unbuttoned. However, due to our lax dress code, I will not criticise you about that, Mr Criminal Record."

Upon hearing that, Akira stood up straighter and pushed up his glasses. Before he could say anything, Kaichou continued, "I am aware of this due to the school governors informing me of it. In case you do not know, this school does not have a principal and is run by a board of governors. They have informed me of your situation so that I can observe you to ensure that you have truly been rehabilitated. Due to this, you have also been forced to join a club. Do inform me of your choice by the end of this week is that clear? Your class will be class 3-A which can be found on the third floor of the main school house. Now then, do you have any other questions?"

Akira shook his head and replied, "No, Kaichou."

"In that case, have a nice day Kurusu. I hope that your time in Kuoh Academy will be a memorable one. You may go." Kaichou said. Without another word, Akira turned and left the Student Council Room in search of his class. As he left the room, Kaichou muttered, "That boy appears to be completely normal. Yet, why do I get the feeling that there is more than meets the eye about him?"

* * *

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Class 3-A]**

"Class, I would like you to welcome Akira Kurusu, he will be joining us for his third year of highschool. Can anyone offer to show him around the school?" Akira's new teacher said.

Looking around the class, Akira found that the school did have a larger number of girls than boys. In this class, the ratio of girls to guys was around seven is to two, and that was including him. A girl with crimson red hair raised her hand and told the teacher, "I'll show him around Sensei!"

"Excellent. Now then Kurusu, Gremory will be showing you around the school later during lunch break. As for your seat, there happens to be one open beside Gremory, you can seat there! Now, let us begin today's lesson." The teacher said. Moving towards the seat beside the crimson haired girl, Akira head the whispers among the students: "He is sitting beside one of the great ladies of our school!" "He looks rather plain doesn't he?" "You know he does look kind of cute…"

Akira sat down at his desk. Out of habit, he opened up his bag and half expected Morgana to leap out of it. However, he opened it to only find his books and pencil case. Sighing, he slid the bag underneath his table. From his side, the crimson haired girl smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Akira Kurusu, my name is Rias Gremory. I hope we can get along!" Somehow, Akira could feel the glares of every other male student in class and even some of the female students. Akira smiled at Rias before turning back to face the teacher. So what if she was a beautiful girl with big breasts, Akira already had his own girlfriend back in Tokyo and he knew that his Queen does not like to share.

* * *

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Akira stretched his arms above his head as the final school bell that signalled the end of the school day rang. It had been a hectic day. During lunch time when he was getting shown around by Gremory-san, he could once again feel the dagger like glares coming from most the male population. Especially with how familiar Gremory acted around him. She had grabbed his arm and even hugged it at one point of time. That had caused him to be stopped by three idiots who had told him to get his "claws" off of their great lady. Thankfully, they had buzzed off by request of Gremory. Grabbing his bag, Akira left the class. He had better search for a club to join as per Kaichou's order. He also had to buy some groceries on his way back home. He did not have to eat instant food anymore after his time at Leblanc. However, as he walked down the hallway, he was once again stopped by the three idiots from lunch break.

The bald one shouted, "You punk! You have definitely stolen the great lady Gremory-sama from the rest of the school! I heard you even seat beside her in class! At least share her with the rest of us guys!"

"Exactly!" The brown haired one declared, "She should be glorified and shared by all of us males! Do not keep her to yourself you transfer student!"

Their loud shouts had managed to attract a crowd. Since it was the end of the school day, students came streaming out of their classes to view the commotion.

"Is that the perverted trio?" one of the students said.

"Yeah, it is. Those three perverts are the ones who kept peeking on our kendo club!" a female student said.

"I wonder what they are trying to do with this transfer student?" said another girl.

"We shall attain justice for the other males of this school! As a great lady of this school, Gremory-sama should be shared by all of us!" the now dubbed perverted trio roared in unison. Akira, already irritated from an entire day of people glaring at him, said, "Look guys, I don't know what the big fuss is about but I am just trying to get through the day. Would you three kindly get out of my way?"

Akira's response only seemed to tick off the perverted trio even more. "I will not allow this to continue! I will stop him from going further with Gremory-sama!" The bald one roared. Akira narrowed his eyes and waited for the bald student to come running at him but nothing came. Tilting his head to the side, Akira said, "You know, people normally come charging at their enemy after a declaration like that. What's wrong boy, are you suddenly too scared to attack your senpai?"

Everyone in that corridor would not believe what they saw next. They saw a complete 180 turn in the transfer student. The previously slouching Akira was now standing up straight. The smile that had been on his face previously had also disappeared. As he removed his glasses, all the students could see the dangerous glint in his eyes, along with the killing intent rising around him. As he took a step forward, the perverted trio took a step back. It almost seem like it was a predator stalking its prey. With a smirk on his face, Akira calmly said, "Now, why don't all of you be good little kouhai and move away?"

Upon hearing that, the perverted trio gulped in unison and scrambled to get out of the school building. Sighing, Akira placed his glasses back on and continued to walk in the direction of the clubs. He still had to find one as soon as possible. Ignoring the suddenly shell shocked crowd, Akira took out his phone and checked the time. That little incident had wasted his time once again and if there was one thing he learned from his time on probation, time could mean everything.

* * *

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Main Street]**

Akira had decided on the club he wished to join. He had found that Kuoh Academy did possess a track club, albeit a small one. After talking to the club's president earlier, he had managed to confirm a place for himself in the club. Apparently, they met every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school. Tomorrow, he would inform Kaichou of his decision and go for training at the club. As he moved throughout Kuoh's main street, Akira smiled at the nostalgia. He still remembered how he had ran around the street in his youth and the festivals that he partook in back in the day. He had happened to walk past a gym on his way to the supermarket, causing him to enter and get a membership for a month. It was a good thing to keep fit and he still had a large amount of leftover funds from his time as a Phantom Thief, even after splitting it with the rest of the group.

After buying the groceries necessary to cook Sojiro's famous curry, Akira began to make his way home. As he took the familiar path back home, he walked past the street that had started it all. The street where he had first met Shido. Yet, he did not regret his decision that day. If he had not met Shido, there was no way he could have met the Phantom Thieves. As he entered his neighbourhood, Akira saw the brown haired pervert entered a house a little bit down the street. Akira could not believe it. He and that pervert he scared off were neighbours?! Shaking his head at the coincidence of it all, Akira entered his house.

 **[A/N] Sorry for the immense amount of time it took me to update. I will be doing a complete rewrite of this fanfiction as I did not like the way the previous story was going. Will hopefully update soon. I intend to keep to a schedule of one update per month so I hope that I will be able to do so.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**The World meets the hidden world**_

 **21/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"I'm home!" Akira shouted as he entered the house.

"Ah, you're back! Welcome home!" Morgana meowed as he slipped into the hallway. Removing his shoes and slipping on his slippers, Akira entered the kitchen with his groceries and a hungry cat in tow. "Is that food? Did you buy me something good? Maybe its sushi!" Morgana sang with sparkles in his eyes.

Laughing, Akira shook his head as he pulled out a pot. "I'm sorry Morgana but looks like you have to stick with cat food for now. I only bought ingredients to make curry. How about I treat you to some milk instead?" he asked.

"Fine. Oh, what I have to put up with just to live with you!" Morgana moaned. Shaking his head with laughter, Akira put on an apron as he began to get to work on some curry. Before long, the delicious smell of curry wafted through the air. Nodding at a job well done, Akira scooped out half of the small pot he had made for himself. He then placed the remaining curry in a container before putting it in the fridge, along with a note that read, "Dear Mother, this is some homemade curry for you. Please remember to heat it before eating it. Akira."

Akira then proceeded to have his dinner as he told Morgana about his day. Upon hearing about Akira's encounter with the three idiot perverts, the cat burst out into laughter. Chortling, Morgana managed to say, "Sorry, haha, but I can't believe the leader of the Phantom Thieves, the almighty Joker, has degraded himself to scaring away perverts haha!"

Smiling at Morgana, Akira cleaned up before retreating to his room for today. "Are you going to wait for your mother to come home before going to bed?"

"No," Akira sighed, "she's normally home rather late. It is of no use to wait for her Morgana."

* * *

 **22/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Cafeteria]**

As Akira ate his food in the cafeteria, he could not help but feel the atmosphere was different from yesterday. Instead of the glaring eyes of the male students, most of them averted his gaze and would often be seen moving out of the way. As for the female students, most of them were looking at him in awe or some even fear. He was used to this at Shujin. After his criminal record got leaked, many had chosen to simply avoid him, believing him to be some kind of crazy mass murderer thanks to the rumour mill there.

Just as he was about to finish his meal, a certain crimson haired girl sat down in the seat in front of him. Looking up, Akira found himself face to face with his desk mate, Rias Gremory. "Kurusu-kun, I heard about what had happened yesterday. Supposedly, you somehow managed to scare off the perverted trio with your glare alone?"

Shrugging, Akira returned his focus back to his meal. "Come on, it's rude to ignore someone when they are talking to you you know? Anyway, I wanted to let you know about something. There is no need to be show harsh on the perverted trio. Honestly, they are a nice group of people if you can ignore their pervertedness. So please ignore them on my behalf, kay?"

Frowning, Akira looked at her and shrugged again. This girl was the complete polar opposite of Ann Takamaki. If Ann was being looked at with those eyes, she would have surely flipped instead of being like Gremory and choosing to ignore them. "You know," Akira said, "doing this would only make those three idiots more bold. Who knows what kind of stuff they might do if it gets out of hand?"

"Now, now. There is no need to worry about that. I am sure that they will not do any bad things, after all, is it so wrong for teenage boys to feel a little perverted from time to time? Oh yes, before I go Kurusu-kun, this is a flyer for you. I happened to find it on your desk after you left for lunch. See you in class!" Upon saying that, Gremory turned on her heels and left the cafeteria with all eyes on her leaving figure.

Looking at the flyer, Akira found it to have a ritual like symbol on the top. "Get your wish granted!" The caption screamed in purple lettering. Akira simply crushed the paper after taking one look at it. He was not one to believe in these sorts of things. The only kind of power or strength he believed in was that achieved by his own two hands. Standing up, Akira moved to return his tray before heading back to class.

* * *

 **22/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Once again, the final bell of the school day rang out, signalling an end to lessons. Picking up his bag, Akira headed to the boy's toilet to change into his P.E. attire before heading to the school grounds. He found the president of the track team, Yui Ryotaro, talking to Kaichou. As he approached, Kaichou turned towards him and said, "So, it appears you have joined the Track club Kurusu. I shall leave him in your capable hands Ryotaro." Without another word, Kaichou turned and returned to the school building.

Facing Akira, Yui said, "Alright Kurusu, let's see what you can do. As for the other members of this club, well, there's only another 3 members who do not often come for training so I apologise if this might seem a little awkward. Now, do you have a stopwatch with you?"

Nodding his head, Akira produced the stopwatch Ryuji had handed to him during his final days in Tokyo. "Alright, let's see how fast you can go at the moment…"

* * *

 **22/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

It was rather late when Track practice had ended. As Akira said his goodbyes to Yui, he began to walk back towards the school building to use the toilets to freshen up before something caught his eye. There was another building behind the main school building and if anything, it looked more like a school than any other parts of the campus. As the sun began to fall, the red light dyed that building in an ominous shade of red. His curiosity piqued, Akira began to move towards that building only to find a hand rest on his shoulder. Whirling around, he once again found himself face to face with Rias Gremory.

"Oh, are you interested in the old school building Kurusu-kun? In case you are wondering, that building has long since been abandoned and is said to be haunted by ghosts. I strongly suggest you do not go there Kurusu-kun." Gremory said with a smile.

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Akira turned and returned to the new school building. In his mind, he wondered what on earth that could be about. The way Gremory had told him that made Akira suspicious of something. That old school building was definitely more than meets the eye. Perhaps he should investigate that building on another day.

* * *

 **22/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

As Akira lay on his bed, he began to ponder about the past two days that he had spent in his hometown. Morgana had long since fallen asleep at his side, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts. The oddest thing that had happened today was still watching that brown haired pervert skipping and singing at the top of his lungs on how he had gotten a girlfriend. What kind of girl would want an idiot like that? Furthermore, there was that issue with Gremory and the old school building, that girl had definitely been hiding something, his gut feel told him so.

Rolling onto his side, he also wondered how his friends were doing back in Tokyo. He had attempted to message Makoto earlier but she did not reply him yet. Perhaps she had gone to sleep, he concluded as he himself drifted off into the land of dreams.

* * *

 **22/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Old School Building]**

"Ara, ara, Buchou has a very interesting look on her face, did something happen?"

"Nothing happened Akeno. I have merely met a very interesting person. Do you know about the new transfer student from my class?"

"Ah! Do you mean that scary scary boy who drove off the perverted trio? He's definitely something else. I can see why you will have your eye on him Buchou."

"No, there's something different about him Akeno. There's something that sets him apart from the other humans in the school. He crushed the flyer that I passed to him almost immediately despite me detecting a large amount of sin within him. I thought that it was human nature to want to have wishes fulfilled easily?"

* * *

 **XX/XX/XXXX, Xxxday**

 **[?]**

" **This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Welcome back to our Velvet Room, Akira Kurusu.** "

The voice reverberated around the room he was in. Groggily, Akira lifted his head, only to find himself in a sitting position. He appeared to have returned to the Velvet Room, although it did look rather different from before. Gone were the prison cells, the warden's table and his prisoner outfit. Instead, Akira found himself clad in his pyjamas and sitting in an ornate armchair at a circular table, surrounded by only a blue fog. Just then, the sharp sound of footsteps rang out from in front of him. Out of the fog stepped a figure and to Akira's shock, that figure was him. That other version of Akira wore a black suit and red gloves. He did not have any glasses on and his eyes were a luminous yellow. Apart from that, he looked completely identical to Akira.

The other Akira took a seat at another armchair that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The other him then said, " **How was that for an introduction to the Velvet Room. I think I was pretty good, no? Oh yes, how rude of me, I have not yet introduced myself in this form. I believe that you may call me Satanael my other self.** "

Akira sat up sharply in his chair. He asked, "Why have you brought me here Satanael? No, how can you even appear in that form in the first place and in this place? My time as a Phantom Thief has ended and Igor even said that our contract has been completed."

" **Going straight to the point I see. Well to answer why we are in the Velvet Room, I simply wish to make a contract with you. Trust me, it is in both of our best interests to have a contract established as soon as possible. As for how I can appear in this form, well, I am thou and thou art I. Lastly, this place still exists within you. In fact, the Velvet Room exists within all human beings! It is the link to the sea of human souls that allows your kind to have the infinite potential that butterfly fool speaks off.** " Satanael stated matter of factly.

"Butterfly fool?" Akira questioned.

" **I think I shall leave that story for another day. Instead, you need to know more about this contract I wish to forge with you. The other day, when you dreamt about the lady in white, I assure you, she was telling the truth. There are more things in this world than either of us can imagine and she has granted you a fighting chance. A storm is coming Akira Kurusu. I would not be too surprised if you are approached in the following days by some unexpected fellows. As such, forming a contract as soon as possible is necessary.** "

"What kind of contract do you wish to form with me, Satanael?"

" **That is rather simple. The reawakening of yourself to the sea of human souls. To put in simpler terms, I wish for you to regain the ability of the Wild Card. However, in exchange, you will not be able to summon me until you have discarded that ability. I will remain here to act as a means of regulating the flow of the sea. Furthermore, this variation of the Wild Card only allows you to summon certain arcanas of Personas, the other arcanas would not answer to your call. So, will you sign this contract?** "

"This is a lot to take in. What if I told you that I do not want to return to being a Phantom Thief, that I am content with my current way of life?"

" **Then, you would be lying to yourself Akira Kurusu. As I vowed to you once before, I am thou and thou art I. Place your faith in this Akira Kurusu, even if you do not wish to fight, the fight would come to you.** "

"Fine. I shall sign this contract of yours. Just to check, there are no other special terms in your contract right?"

" **Indeed there are none. Our contract has now been sealed. We shall meet again, when you have seen the truth of this world. Time marches on in your world, it is about time for you to return there, Trickster.** " Satanael said with a smirk on his face as Akira blacked out.

* * *

 **23/3/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Class 3-A]**

"Is there something wrong Kurusu-kun? You seem to be lost in thought." Rias Gremory's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"I am fine Gremory-san." Akira answered.

"Well, then can you explain why you are still sitting at your desk when class has been over for the past twenty minutes?" Gremory asked.

That seemed to truly snap Akira out of his thoughts. Looking around the class, he found what Gremory said to be true. There was no one left in it except for the both of them. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Akira stood and packed his stuff. "Thank you for telling me Gremory-san, if not for you, I probably would have stayed here longer."

With that, Akira slung his bag over his shoulder and left the class. Frowning, Rias wondered what this could mean. Slipping out her smartphone, she muttered, "There's definitely something different about him. Should probably let the rest of my peerage know."

* * *

 **25/3/20XX, Saturday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Main Street]**

As Akira left the school building, he began to become lost in his thoughts again. The past two days had been pretty uneventful. The only real exciting thing that had happened was how Yui had discovered that he could probably take part in any Track and Field event. It was probably thanks to all that training in the Metaverse. Yet, he was still on edge from Satanael's warning from the other night. That guy had made it seem like he was going to be attacked at any time but nothing has happened yet. Ah well, it need not matter so much. After all, to Akira, the lesser hiccups in his stay in Kuoh the better.

Walking through the park on his way home, Akira saw a group of kids playing around the fountain. Smiling at the sight, he continued on his way home. He could still remember how he used to play there when he was a kid. As he drew closer to his home, he found a black limousine parked outside his house. "Funny," he muttered under his breath, "Mother did not say anything about having guests today."

Akira quickened his pace, more eager to find out what was happening in his own home.

* * *

 **25/3/20XX, Saturday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's Home]**

"I'm home!" Akira shouted upon entering.

Instead of the usual greetings from Morgana, Akira heard his mother's voice ring out from the living room, "Finally, you're back! Come to the kitchen now, Akira. You have some guests waiting for you."

Eyes narrowing in caution, Akira made his way into the living room, only to find his mother sitting at the table with Morgana and two other females. One of them had long dark red hair while the other had short blond hair and looked like a foreigner with her blue eyes. Both of them were clad in black business suits. The red haired lady stood up upon seeing him enter the room. "Nice to meet you Kurusu-kun, my name is Mitsuru Kirijo and I am the president of Kirijo corporations. This is my associate, Aigis Palladion, apologies for the intrusion." the now named Mitsuru Kirijo said.

Glancing at the both of them, Akira said warily, "Nice to meet you Kirijo-san, Palladion-san. May I know what business you have with me?"

"Ah yes," Mitsuru said, "Aigis do you mind."

"Confirmed." Aigis said before she placed her hand on Akira's mother's neck, causing Akira's mother to collapse to the floor. Leaping to his feet, Akira rushed towards Aigis and grabbed her hand, only to find her previously gloved hand now had a small tear in it around the fingertips, revealing a metallic shine. "I assure you Kurusu-kun, your mother will be fine. Aigis only injected her with a small knock out drug, she will be awake by tomorrow morning. Now, I suggest you sit down Kurusu-kun, or should I say, Mr Leader of the Phantom Thieves."

Upon hearing those words, Akira stiffened. "I think we should listen to what she has to say Akira, I mean it does not seem we have much of a choice. We have no idea what on earth that Aigis thing is." Morgana meowed.

"So, that cat can talk. I hate to break up what might be an interesting conversation, but I want you to sit down now. I only wish to have a simple chat with you." Mitsuru said.

Realising his grip on Aigis' hand, Akira returned to his former seat as he watched Aigis pick his mother up and returned her to a seating position. Morgana also hopped onto his lap to get a better view of what was happening. "Good. Now that we have all come down, let me ask you a very important question. Do you know what a Persona is." Mitsuru questioned.

"What? How did she know that?" Morgana blurted out. Despite Morgana's outburst, Akira maintained a poker face and shot back another question at Mitsuru, "Why would you like to know Ms President?"

"I shall take that as a yes. In that case, it would appear that your group of Phantom Thieves are another group of Persona users. So far, there have been three known groups of them, your group would be the fourth. Now tell me, are you aware of the existence of shadows?"

Cocking his head to the side, Akira replied, "How about you tell us how you know so much Kirijo-san?"

"Hmmph. If you must know, I too am a Persona user. Those in my group in particular were the ones who put a stop to the phenomenon known as the Dark Hour. Apart from that, I believe that the objective of my trip here has been completed. Aigis, let us depart." With that, Mitsuru Kirijo stood and began to make her way out of the house.

Not rising from his position, Akira asked, "What do you intend to do in this town Kirijo-san? And why did you need to check on my presence in order to carry out your business?"

"So, it appears that you are sharper than I expected. Very well. Let me give you a word of warning Akira Kurusu. This town has more to it than meets the eye. As long as you stay out of our investigation, I should see no problems Phantom Thief."

* * *

 **26/3/20XX, Sunday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Main Street]**

Akira was walking through the park again. He had been stocking up on groceries once again. To think that the amount he had purchased on Tuesday would run out so quickly. At least his mother had been willing to provide the cash this time, even though he was sent to purchase it rather late in the evening. Then again, Morgana had only allowed him to leave the house earlier if he had brought along the knife he had used in his days as Joker. "At least the knives you created in the Velvet Room were real." Morgana had remarked.

Just then, a sudden scream cut through the air. It sounded like that of a teenager. Dropping his grocery bags and whipping out his knife, Akira rushed towards the sound of the scream. There, he found that brown haired pervert running away from a young girl. Wait, why did this girl had black wings coming out from her back? Just as he was about to intervene, there was an audible buzz and a light spear flared to life in the girl's hand. "Goodbye Hyoudou Issei." she said in a cold voice.

The light spear was flung directly at Issei's heart, burning a hole in his chest. He feebly clutched his chest as he murmured, "No, I... I don't want to... die..."

Akira was angry. Despite that boy being a pervert, nobody deserved to die. Why was it always the innocents who lost their lives and not those that had caused the problems. Turning to Akira, the girl said, "Looks like I have a witness, guess I have to kill you too." she said.

Another light spear blazed to life and without a moment's notice, she flung it at Akira. Flinging himself to the side, Akira barely managed to dodge the light spear. Gritting his teeth, he watched as more light spears blazed to life around the girl. Just then, an all to familiar voice rang out, "What are you waiting for? Call on us. I am thou and thou art I, let your rebellious spirit come forth in a blaze of glory!"

The familiar blue flames roared to life around his face and he felt the familiar weight of the white domino mask on his face. Smirking, he raised his hand and tore off the mask, causing blue flames to completely engulf his person. As the blue flames scatter, Akira's clothes have changed. Replacing his ordinary t-shirt was a black trench coat and a grey dress shirt. His shorts was replaced by dress pants and his shoes changed into dress shoes. Behind him, a winged being circled by chains manifested out of the flames. The being had a top hat, clawed hands, a monstrous face and was in a red suit. As he tightened the red gloves on his hand, he glanced at the stunned girl in front of him. "Ravage her Arsene, _Eigaon_!" he declared.

A pillar of darkness shot out from the ground, completely covering the girl from head to toe. It appeared to be made out of multiple screaming faces, almost as if souls were imprisoned within the pillar. The girl shrieked from the sudden damage received from the dark pillar. A bright light shone from within the pillar and it was shredded apart by the girl. Scowling, the girl began to rise into the air. "Nobody told me that there was a magician in this town, much less a summoner type magician. Die without any further delay!" she roared.

More light spears flared to life and came raining down upon Akira. Casually jumping out of the way, Akira did a little twirl through the air before landing in a forward roll. Raising his hand to his mask once more, Akira's mask once again blazed to life. "Come, Siegfried!"

However, instead of the armour clad Persona bursting into existence, all Akira felt was a sharp pain in his head. Frowning, he remembered what Satanael had said, on how he was unable to summon certain Personas. "What's wrong magician? Shouldn't you have retaliated by now?" the girl howled before flinging more light spears at him.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a magic circle had came to life behind the barely breathing body of Hyoudou Issei. "Hmph. Come, Bugs!" Akira shouted.

Thankfully for him, Bugs manifested behind him. It was the very definition of a child's nightmare, a killer teddy bear. It had fangs with blood dripping down from them, causing the blood to pool around its collar. Skulls could be seen sticking out of his barely sewed up stomach. "Bugs, _Triple Down_!"

The Persona baring its fangs flung itself at the girl. Three shots collided with the girl's stomach, causing her to get knocked out of the sky. The girl collapsed into the fountain, causing water to completely soak her being. Gasping for air, she looked at Akira with shocked eyes. Drawing his knife, Akira pointed it directly at her face. Jumping forward, Akira lunged towards her and swung his knife towards her, which she blocked with a light spear. Just then, he could feel a pressure rising up from behind him. Since he was currently caught in a clash with the girl, Akira was not able to turn around but judging from the girl's shocked facial features, he knew something dangerous must have turned up behind him. Backflipping out of the fountain, Akira turned around only to find Rias Gremory pressing 8 objects into Hyoudou Issei. "Stop! What do you think you are doing to him?" Akira shouted at Gremory.

Then, there was the sound of the fluttering of wings from behind him. Whirling around, he saw the girl had spread her wings and begun to fly away. "Like I would let you get away, Arsene, _Brave Blade_!"

Arsene reappeared behind Akira, taking the position of Bugs. Cackling with laughter, Arsene raised his arm before bringing it down sharply, causing the sound of a blade and a yellow cut to form in front of him. The attack had managed to make a sizeable cut in the girl's back, causing blood to drip out of her wound. Crying out in pain, the girl gritted her teeth and forced herself to continue to fly onwards. Akira attempted to chase after the girl but was stopped by a voice from behind him. "Maybe you should worry more about yourself than that fallen angel, magician. I do not remember hearing anything about you entering my town."

Once again looking towards Gremory, Akira saw that she had leaped into the air, with devil wings spread out behind her. In her palms, she held an orb of purple magic that looked suspiciously like a Megidola and threw it Akira. Acting on pure instinct alone, Akira managed to barely jump to the side, avoiding the attack. Just as he was about to counterattack, Gremory had already formed a magic circle beneath herself and Hyoudou, causing both of them to get swallowed up by it and teleport away, leaving the Joker standing alone in the middle of a deserted park.

* * *

 **26/3/20XX, Sunday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"Morgana, we need to talk. Is it possible to use Personas outside of the Metaverse?"

Looking up from the television programme he was watching, Morgana said, "What do you mean Akira? You of all people should know that Personas can only be used in that place. Besides, the Metaverse has been destroyed and we are not even in Tokyo anymore?"

"Akira? What's the cat meowing about now? Earlier, he would not stop making a racket until I switched on the television. Do you have any idea what he wants?" Akira's mother said as she moved into the living room.

"Nothing Mother. I'm just going to bring him up to my room for awhile." Akira replied as he scooped up a complaining Morgana into his arms and trudged towards his room. Once they had entered the security of his room and after ensuring the door was locked, Akira continued, "You know what Morgana, I think I will just show you what I mean."

A blue flame burst to life around Akira and when the flames died down, the one who stood in his place was the leader of the Phantom Thieves, Joker. "What?" Morgana shrieked, "This should not be possible! How are you able to change while in the real world? Wait. Joker, do you think this has something to do with the phenomena Kirijo-san was talking about yesterday?"

Nodding his head, Akira began to explain to Morgana the entire incident that had occurred earlier with the girl with wings, a dead pervert and a girl who could shoot Megidola.

* * *

 **26/3/20XX, Sunday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Old School Building]**

"Buchou, what happened? Why do you look so drained?"

"It's nothing to worry about. It appears that there was a little more trouble before I could get hold of the latest member of our peerage, our pawn."

"Ara, ara. Did a little fallen angel give our Buchou so much trouble? Maybe we should have come after all."

"Unfortunately for us, it is not the fallen angel. It would seem that there is a rogue magician on the loose in my town. What's more, it appears that he has made a contract with a fallen angel himself. I would never mistake those black wings for anything else. It looks like we need to do some research on a being known as Arsene."

* * *

 **XX/X/XXXX, Xxxday**

 **[Velvet Room]**

" **Welcome back to our Velvet Room my dear other self.** "

Looking around the Velvet Room, Akira found himself to be in a very familiar location. He and Satanael were both seated at a table in Leblanc, an exact carbon copy of it, right down to the last coffee bean. "I see you've been redecorating, I like what you've done with the place." Akira remarked.

" **Thank you Akira Kurusu. Unfortunately, the reason why I called you here was not to admire this scene but to inform you of the situation you are currently in. Both of us have somehow been dragged into another game. However, the rules this time are nothing like the last one. There are bigger forces at play here than that trinket of a Holy Grail. It is a good thing that you have returned to your hometown, a place that you shall begin to understand a little on the truth of this world.** "

Satanael stood and moved towards the bar. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he took a sip, before continuing, " **I am sad to tell you this but your time as a Phantom Thief is not over. It is time for you to pick up your mask once again Joker and discover what this world truly has install. Now then, our time here is up. I would like to answer more questions but I too am quite in the dark about this situation. I am only able to see the signs of danger that is about to come…** "

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"Morning Akira! Don't forget to text the Phantom Thief chat about what we discussed yesterday!" Morgana said in greeting as Akira opened his eyes.

Nodding his head at Morgana's statement, Akira walked towards his study desk with his phone on it. Yesterday, he and Morgana that the best course of action was to inform the remainder of the Phantom Thieves on what had happened. Morgana had even taken a photo of him as Joker yesterday before he had gone to bed. Somehow, his phone had managed to capture it as visual evidence. Opening the Phantom Thief chat, Akira began to send a message.

* * *

 **[Phantom Thieves Chat Group]**

Akira: Good morning guys, hope all of you are doing well.

Makoto: Looks like someone is up early, didn't expect to receive a message from you at 5 am i the morning.

Yusuke: I did not expect this either, Akira. I always expected you to be like Ryuji, a late riser.

Akira: I'm going to ignore what you just said Inari. Now then, I have something that all of you need to see.

Akira: [Image cannot be sent]

Makoto: ?

Yusuke: What did you intend to show us Akira?

Akira: [Image cannot be sent]

Akira: [Image cannot be sent]

Akira: I don't know what is going on? Why can't I seem to send this photo?

Yusuke: Maybe there is something wrong with your phone. I suggest you get it looked at. Is it something important you wish to tell us.

Akira: No, it's fine. I'll try to send the photo again another time. Sorry to bother you all so early in the morning.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"So, did you manage to send them the photo?" Morgana asked.

"No, something is wrong. For some reason, my phone refuses to send them the photo. Hmmm? What kind of error message is this?" Akira gasped.

On his phone, a red textbox with a magic circle spinning in its centre had popped up out of nowhere. Even though he was no cyber expert like Futaba, Akira knew that that should not be able to happen. Just then, a message popped up from inside the textbox. Akira read the text out to Morgana, " 'To whom this may concern, this is a friendly reminder that the existence of magic should not be randomly spread through phones due to the risk it has of being traced and uploaded onto the Internet. If you wish to send images that have acts of magic in them, please make use of the Devi-message app instead. Sincerely, Maou Ajuka Beelzebub.' Seems like we won't be able to receive aid from our friends in Tokyo. This is going to make things problematic."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Dead men should tell no tales**_

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

As Akira entered Kuoh Academy grounds, he got faced by another impossibility in front of him. Walking a little ahead of him was a certain very dead brown haired pervert, Hyoudou Issei. It was impossible. He knew that there was no way for the dead to come back to life, he knew that from his experience as a Phantom Thief, their one fallen member.

"Someone here looks deep in thought." A familiar voice said as its owner walked into his field of vision. Rias Gremory, one of the great ladies of this school, also happening to be a girl with devil wings and the capability to use Almighty type of attacks. "Good morning to you too, Gremory-san." Akira deadpanned as he continued to walk towards the main school building.

"Hey! Don't just talk to me like that Kurusu-kun. Why do you have to be so mean?" Gremory moaned as she followed Akira into the school building.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Both school and track practice had ended for the day. The sun was beginning to set and dyed the entire school in a glorious red colour. Looking around, Akira found himself to be completely alone in the first floor corridor. He had taken his time to wash up and waited for most of the student body to vacate the premises. Unzipping his school bag, a certain black and white cat leaped out of it. "Urgh, it was so suffocating in there Akira. Couldn't you have let me out earlier? You had no problem in doing so back when we were in Shujin you know." Morgana questioned as he began to scratch his ear.

"This school is a lot more dangerous than Shujin, Morgana. The Student Council President here gives me the creeps. Besides, we have to be careful. We do not know if Gremory has any other associates in this school." Akira whispered.

"Yeah, I get it. Either ways, let us begin the operation now. Since I am unsure if I can use my Persona, I will go and stake out that pervert's house and see if anything weird is going on. Based on what you told me yesterday, there is no way that he can still be alive and kicking. As for you, you will attempt to sneak into that Old School Building that Gremory did not want you to enter. Hopefully it can shed some light on what's going on." Morgana said as he began to walk towards the exit.

Turning to look at the Old School Building from the windows of the corridor, Akira narrowed his eyes as blue flames rose to cover his body once again.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Old School Building]**

"Hmm? Akeno-san, has Buchou left the school already? I thought we were going on jobs tonight." A blond haired blue eye male said.

A beautiful female student with long black hair tied into a ponytail and violet eyes replied, "Ara ara. Looks like Buchou really is worried about her new servant, as expected. However, Buchou told me that we shall still be going along with our plans for today. So you need not worry Yuuto."

Lying on the sofa with her eyes closed was another female student. She was rather petite and had white hair that was cut into a bob. All of a sudden, she opened her hazel coloured eyes and began to look around the room. "What's wrong Koneko-chan? Does something have you on edge?" Kiba Yuuto asked.

"There's someone else here." Koneko Toujo replied simply. Almost immediately, both Kiba's and Akeno's posture changed from that of a relaxed one to a more battle ready one. Tilting his head towards the side, Kiba summoned a sword into his hand as he surveyed the room. Electricity began to crackle around Akeno's fingertips as she looked around the room with a smile on her face. "Why not you come down here and face us, Magician-san!" Akeno said in a sing song voice.

A deathly silence filled the room as the three servants of Gremory waited for a reply. However, none came. Her smile spreading even wider, Akeno turned and fired a streak of thunder towards a seemingly random corner. Arcing through the air, the thunder collided with the wall, leaving a black mark on it. A figure dropped from the ceiling and began to walk out of the corner Akeno had struck. "I'm surprised that you managed to sense and locate me. I'm impressed. Thankfully I jumped out of the way in the knick of time." The figure said.

"You must be the magician our master spoke off. A pleasure to meet you. I am Akeno Himejima, the Queen of Rias Gremory's peerage. Beside me are my fellow servants, Yuuto and Koneko. Now then, how about you introduce yourself too."

"I am Joker." The masked figure said. Another round of silence seemed to fill the air but this time, it seemed more like the calm before the store. As Joker reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun, all hell broke loose. Kiba rushed forward, attempting to catch Joker with the fabled speed of the Knight. However, his slice with the sword only cut through the air, causing his eyes to widen in shock. Above him, Joker smirked and opened fire on Kiba. As Kiba dodged the bullets, more bolts of thunder began streaking towards Joker out of Akeno's hands. Joker danced his way through the attacks, causing a large dust cloud to appear where he last was.

When the dust cloud finally cleared, Gremory's servants found themselves looking at a smoking Joker and the surrounding furniture around him to be completely destroyed. Apart from the smoke rising off of him, Joker appeared to be completely unscathed. Raising his hand, Joker beckoned them to come closer towards him with a smirk on his face. This resulted in Koneko rushing towards Joker, unfortunately for her failing to pin him to the ground as he had simply moved out of the way. Joker was then greeted by an ice beam going straight for him. Rolling to the side, Joker managed to dodge the ice attack from Akeno as well. Leaping to his feet, he found a blade being swung directly towards him. Cling! The sound of clashing metal rang out through the air. Joker had managed to block Kiba's blade with a knife. This caused the Gremory servants to stare in shock as they could not believe that a mere knife would be able to stop a sword. Taking advantage of the situation, Joker's mask burst into flame, continuing to obscure his facial features from Gremory's servants. "Black Frost, Mabufudyne!"

The blue flames behind Joker rose, causing a figure to manifest behind him. The figure was a black and purple demon. It was wearing a hat and its face looked cartoonishly evil. The figure did a little twirl and pointed towards the Gremory group. A sudden chill began to spread through the air as ice crackled into being all around the Gremory group in spirals. The ice then shattered, causing both Koneko and Kiba to be frozen solid, leaving only Akeno unharmed. Glancing at her frozen comrades, Akeno ignited a flame in her hand, attempting to melt the other two. However, Joker was not going to let her do so.

Gripping her wrist, Joker twisted her arm away from the Kiba Akeno was attempting to melt. "Ara ara, do you want to have your way with this onee-sama?" Akeno questioned while giving Joker a wink.

Raising his handgun, Joker pointed it between Akeno's eyes. "Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood for playing. Now tell me, what are you?"

Just then, a sudden crackle of flame filled the air. Joker turned his head in the direction of the sound only to find Kiba's sword all of a sudden bursting into flames. The ice surrounding Kiba began to quickly melt. "Looks like my comrade managed to free himself magician-san. Shall we continue our little fight?"

Reigniting the flame, Akeno thrusted her free hand towards Joker. Strangely, a mirror like object appeared in front of him, causing the flames to rebound at Akeno and burn her left arm. Screaming in pain, she conjured water out of thin air attempted to cool the burnt skin.

"It seems like you've hurt my comrade, I will not forgive this magician. Taste my [Flame Sword]!" Kiba roared as he swung his blade at Joker. Rolling out of the way of the sword, Joker jumped into the air, firing off multiple shots at Kiba and forcing him to create a wall of flame with his sword to block the bullets. As Kiba hurriedly attempted to stop those bullets, Joker rolled into a crouch behind Kiba before taking a final shot at him. This shot found its target, causing Kiba to collapse from a bullet wound near his hip. Kiba gasped, "What… what kind of… of attack was… was that?"

"Down shot." Joker replied. Before Joker could make another move, the doors to the room were slammed open, revealing Rias Gremory. Rias surveyed the room, only to find her beloved servants all defeated. Kiba was kneeling on the ground, gasping from his bullet wound. Koneko was still frozen solid in a casing of ice and Akeno was lying on the ground clutching a burnt arm. As for the room, the furniture was completely destroyed, the carpet was ruined and there were black markings on the walls. As she and Joker made eye contact, a magical aura began to swell up around Rias, causing her hair to begin to fly all over the place as the [Power of Destruction] began to manifest in an orb in front of her.

"You, what have you done? You dare attack my beloved servants?" Rias growled as the orb began to swell. Cocking his head to the side and smirking at Rias, Joker simply snapped his fingers, causing a bright light to burst from where he stood. Rias could only advert her eyes from him as she heard the sound of glass smashing. When she looked back at where he last stood, all she saw was a shattered window.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Hyoudou Residence]**

Meanwhile, Morgana was having arguably one of his most boring assignments yet. He had assigned himself to keep watch on the one known as Hyoudou Issei but he had no idea he would be having such a boring time.

Morgana was sitting on the terrace outside of Hyoudou's window. Even though he was in such a compromising position, that idiot still did not spot him. In fact, that idiot did not even look at Morgana's direction once! Apart from the fact that he was a dead man walking, there was nothing special about Hyoudou Issei. Like an ordinary highschool student, he had simply done his homework before sitting at his desk and using his computer.

Sighing, Morgana stood up and prepared to leave the residence. It was no use to continue this observation. Leaping off the terrace with ease, Morgana returned towards Akira's house. Unbeknownst to him, a certain girl with crimson hair had been watching him all this time. As she watched Morgana leave the residence, a magic circle appeared beneath her feet and she teleported away.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Old School Building]**

"That magician is very strong. I still do not understand how he managed to take out Akeno-san, Koneko and me all at once."

"Ara ara. Is Yuuto-kun jealous of magician-san's strength? Then again, on my pride as a Queen, I cannot believe he defeated me so easily. I have never heard of a spell that reflects elemental magic before. Oh yes, Buchou, the magician said that his name was Joker."

"Hmm? Yes, Yuuto did tell me about that. However, I have never heard of a magician going by that name. More research needs to be put into this."

"Yes Buchou!" The three servants of Gremory shouted in unison.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Monday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"So nothing on your end either, Morgana?" Akira asked as he got ready for bed.

"Yes! That entire stake out was a complete waste of time. At least you managed to fight three of them. All I did was watch an idiot do his homework and play computer games." Morgana moaned.

"Anyway, it appears that we cannot get help from the rest of our group. I tried to send the photo again earlier but failed. It is rather difficult to explain the current situation to them since we are unable to send that photo. I think the next time best time we can inform them of the situation is when they come over for break."

"Looks like we should lay low until then Akira. Well then, you should go to bed! You still have school tomorrow! We will discuss more about this tomorrow after school!" Morgana said. Shaking his head at that familiar reminder, Akira slipped under the blankets and went to bed.

* * *

 **XX/X/XXXX, Xxxday**

 **[?]**

Akira woke up in that strange lake again. Once again, the blonde lady stood at the centre of the bright red Shinto gate. " _Hello again, my dear Satanael. Ah. I called you that again. My mistake Akira Kurusu, old habits die hard._ " the lady said.

Looking at her back, Akira pushed himself up to his feet and asked, "Why have you brought me here again lady? Also, you still have not answered what you are?"

Giggling, the lady replied, " _Is it not rude to ask a lady what she is? As for why I brought you here, I wish to warn you again my dear child. The consequences of your actions in Tokyo, you shall soon be facing them. Steel yourself my dear child for what is about to come._ "

"Consequences? What are you talking about? All I did was headshot a false god."

" _Ah, you never do change do you? Why is it always the young that has to suffer. Just remember my dear, everything has a consequence and we shall all have to face it. I know that best after all. Now then, I think I should give you a little more information on what you are going through. This world that you live in contains many myths and legends. All I can tell you is that all these myths and legends must have some form of truth in. Now, I am afraid our time is up. Do say hello to the Welsh Dragon for me the next time you see him._ "

There it was again. The same ringing of bells. That was the last sound that Akira heard before he blacked out.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Class 3A]**

"Good morning students. Today, I will like to introduce all of you to a new teacher who shall be joining us from today onwards. Her name is Aigis Palladion and she will be your new homeroom and mathematics teacher for the year. Can you give her a warm welcome?"

Akira was currently in shock. He did not think that the Kirijo corporations would send their own blonde terminator to teach in Kuoh Academy. That Mitsuru Kirijo must be very serious about this investigation.

"Good morning everyone. I am Palladion-sensei and I shall be teaching you for the rest of this school year. I hope that all of you will be able to gain something about of my lessons." Palladion-sensei said with a bow. The blonde android was dressed in a black suit and skirt and had white gloves on.

Despite being an android, Palladion-sensei seemed to be rather proficient in teaching. Glancing towards his side, Akira found Gremory to be rather distracted, completely unlike her. "Someone here looks deep in thought." Akira muttered.

His voice seemed to snap her out of her daydream. Looking at Akira, Gremory simply smiled at him. "Kurusu and Gremory, do you mind focusing here instead?" Palladion-sensei said from the front, "Oh and Kurusu, I wish to see you after school."

Upon hearing Palladion-sensei, Gremory's face turned a bright red. Both Akira and Gremory returned their gaze to the front of the class.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

"Good afternoon teachers. I am Akira Kurusu from class 3A and I'm looking for Palladion-sensei." Akira said after opening the door to the staffroom.

Rising from her desk, Palladion-sensei made her way towards Akira. Walking past him and into the corridors, she simply beckoned for Akira to follow. Both of them made their way into an empty classroom. "You know, if you do this, people will start thinking there's something between us Palladion-sensei." Akira said upon entering the classroom.

"I did not call you here to listen to your nonsense Kurusu-kun. I would like to ask though, how did you manage to manifest your Persona without an evoker in the real world?" Palladion-sensei questioned.

"I don't know what you are talking about Palladion-sensei. Why not you tell me what is going on in this town first? Growing up, I never faced any of these problems before."

"So, you really do not know. Fine, I shall report this to Kirijo-sama. She also told me to inform you of the truth behind the happenings in the school. From what we have been able to gather so far, devils and angels do exist in this world. You should know, you have encountered the two of them that Sunday in the park." After taking a deep breath, Palladion-sensei continued, "As for why you never experienced this while growing up, we do not have a solid explanation for that."

"Fine. If that's all you have to say to me, may I take my leave now Palladion-sensei?" Akira asked.

"You may Kurusu-kun. However, as a word of warning. I suggest you do not hastily rush into the affairs of these devils. Beware both the Occult Research Club as well as the Student's Council. Now, I wish you a good day Kurusu-kun." With that, Palladion-sensei turned and left the classroom.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"I'm home." Akira droned out upon entering the house. To his surprise, he did get a response from someone other than Morgana.

"Oh, you're back," Akira's mother said, "great timing. I'm not sure if you remember them but the Hyoudou family will be coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Do cook a larger portion of your delicious curry got it Akira?"

"Yeah." Akira replied as he made his way towards his room. Upon entering it, he found Morgana reading one of his old manga. "Hey, aren't we gonna discuss our next move Morgana?"

Looking up at him, Morgana replied, "Sure thing Akira. Also, I did some experimentation earlier to attempt to summon my Persona and look what I managed to do!"

Blue flames rose up around Morgana, causing him to revert to his Phantom Thief form of that monster cat shape. With a smug grin on his face, Morgana returned to his usual cat form and declared, "Looks like I can help you out in battle now Akira! Alright, let us begin to discuss our plans for the future. Oh right, what did your mum tell you earlier when she entered the house?"

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Student Council Room]**

"Sona, it appears that we have a problem on our hands." Rias Gremory announced as she entered the Student Council room.

"Oh? And what kind of problem is so big that you and your peerage cannot handle by yourself?" Sona Sitri said before she took a sip of tea.

"It appears that we have a magician in town, a powerful one as well. He's a summoner type magician that somehow managed to make pacts with multiple creatures, he even manage to take on three members from my peerage! Yuuto even said that it felt like he was playing around. Furthermore, I have suspicions that he has a familiar in the form of a black and white cat"

"That is a problem. A magician that can take on three devils easily is a big problem, even if they are low class ones. Have you managed to get any intel on him?"

"That's the next problem Sona. No one has ever seen or heard anything about him! It's almost as if he just sprouted out of nowhere. The only thing that we managed to find out is that he goes by the alias of Joker."

"Fine. I shall perform my own investigation into this matter but first, when was the first time you saw this Joker?"

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Main Street]**

The sun was setting as a tired Akira made his way out of the gym. The classes in Kuoh Academy were relatively easy as compared to those at Shujin. This caused him to have an abundance of free time since he need not study nor prepare for palaces. Deciding to drop by the supermarket for more food before returning home, Akira veered off course and headed towards there instead. However, he was completely oblivious to a figure overhead as a black feather slowly drifted down towards the ground.

By the time Akira left the supermarket, the sun had already set, causing the sky to be dyed in the black of night. Akira could not help but curse his luck that the Hyoudou family was invited for dinner. Akira's mother and Mrs Hyoudou were good friends. Although they normally do not call their family for their meetups, Akira was unlucky enough that he had to be present for one this time. Well, at least he could keep track of Hyoudou Issei. Turning into an alleyway, Akira decided to take a shortcut home.

As he continued to walk forward, Akira accidentally bumped into a man dressed in a hat and a large grey coat. Blinking at the man, Akira mumbled an apology before continuing to walk away. "It's a nice night today, right magician? How unfortunate that you might die on this night."

The man's words caused Akira to halt in his tracks. Calmly placing his grocery bags and his gym bag on the ground, Akira turned to face the man. The man had shrugged off his coat revealing dirty black wings to Akira. As the man begin to rise into the air, he said, "I've already let one of my prey go tonight, I definitely won't let a second one!"

A light spear flared to life in his hand, briefly lighting up the night before he flung it at Akira. Blue flames wrapped around Akira before flickering out of existence to reveal Joker. Sidestepping the attack, Joker reached into his coat pocket, drew out a handgun and opened fire on the man.

Light spears blazed to life causing the bullets to be incinerated before they could even get close to the man. "Perhaps I shall grant you the name of your killer magician. I am Dohnaseek, your murderer!" The man roared.

Light spears of every shape and size were flung at Joker. Unfortunately for Dohnaseek, none of them managed to even make contact. "Well then, I guess I shall grant you this, come Yamata no Orochi!" Joker said as his face became covered in blue flames.

Dohnaseek's jaw dropped at the sight that lay before him. The magician had somehow managed to summon it, an evil dragon. Dohnaseek could not believe that he would ever lay eyes on Yamata no Orochi, a being he had only read out in one of the books in heaven…

Then, Dohnaseek felt it. A sense of dread that seemed to be growing by the second. The eight headed eight tailed dragon seemed to ooze malice and destruction. Worst of all for Dohnaseek was that it was all directed towards him. He could feel the eight pairs of predatory eyes all locked onto his being causing him to freeze in space. "Let's go, Deathbound!" Joker shouted.

All eight heads roared as a wave of purple energy rippled out from the Persona. If one were to take a closer look at the energy, one would have noticed multiple purple hands stretching out from it, as though it was trying to grasp its enemy. The energy collided straight into a still paralyzed Dohnaseek and the arms grabbed hold of him, attempting to pull him apart.

Screaming in fear, Dohnaseek attempted to fly away but the hands continued to hold onto him. He had made a terrible mistake. In front of him stood the menacing figure of the magician, blue flames still covered his face but Dohnaseek could still see a devilish grin on his face as well as a gleaming yellow eye. Joker spread his arms open as if to welcome Dohnaseek and Yamata no Orochi began to fixate upon Dohnaseek once again.

Just then, a voice shouted, "Hey, what's going on down there? Is someone hurt?"

Upon the hearing the voice, the blue flames faded away along with Yamata no Orochi. Grabbing his items, Joker somehow managed to leap up the walls of the building on one end of the alleyway. Turning back to Dohnaseek, Joker cheekily gave him a salute and simply said, "See ya."

The last thing Dohnaseek saw of that magician was the fluttering of three coattails before the Joker disappeared into the night.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Tuesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Abandoned Church]**

"Raynare! Raynare! Screw this shit! I'm leaving this town right now!" Dohnaseek shrieked as he entered the church.

"Hmm? Why are you screaming like a little girl Dohnaseek? What, did you run into a big bad dragon on the way back! Haha!" Raynare laughed upon seeing the terrified expression on the normally stoic Dohnaseek's face.

"Yes! I did see a big bad dragon! One of the worst ones as well, th-that magician… h-he somehow man-managed to summon Yamata no Orochi!" Dohnaseek stuttered out.

Upon hearing those words, the other fallen angels that were lounging around the church turned to give Dohnaseek their full undivided attention. If some human, no if some monster managed to bring back that hellish dragon, then it was not safe to remain in this town.

"Are you certain Dohnaseek? Yamata no Orochi is said to be sealed in that Kusanagi sword ain't it. If that thing was stolen, that family would have kicked up a big fuss by now. Since none of them had said anything, I think it is safe to assume that you were hallucinating!" Raynare mocked. The other fallen angels nodded their head in agreement with Raynare.

Another one of the fallen angels spoke out, "Besides, if Raynare-sama gets hold of that sacred gear from that little girl, we won't have to worry at all Dohnaseek. I'm sure we can stay here a little while longer since she gets here two days from now. The ritual doesn't take long anyway."

"I think all of you are crazy! As long as that magician is in this town, I'm not staying here! That human managed to hurt Raynare and summon Yamata no Orochi. I would rather go back and die by Azazel's hand then get hellfire rained down on us by that magician! I'm leaving now! If any of you had any sense you would follow me to!" Dohnaseek announced.

After seeing that none of the other fallen angels showed any indication of wanting to follow him, Dohnaseek turned and left the church. Now if only those fallen angels knew that Dohnaseek's words weren't far off from the truth.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

"I'm so sorry Ryotaro-san. I'm not feeling well today and won't be able to go for practice later." Akira told Yui. Akira could not believe the amount of fatigue he was feeling. Why did it seem to be so much more tiring to use certain Personas now?

"Ah, it's okay Kurusu. Just get well soon okay? Do you want to eat lunch together?" Yui replied with a grin.

Nodding his head in affirmation, the two began to head towards the canteen. "Hey Kurusu, can I ask you something?" Yui asked.

"I think you already did Ryotaro-san. However, I'm sure I can entertain a second one." Akira jokes.

"Well I'm not sure if you've heard the rumours but apparently, Hyoudou came to school with one of the Great Ladies of the school, Rias Gremory, this morning. I mean it is just a rumour but if it were true, I will believe the apocalypse is tomorrow!" Yui said. Chuckling at Yui's reply, both of them entered the cafeteria only to be stopped immediately by the other two members of the perverted trio.

"Hey! Mr Transfer Student! Is it true that you somehow helped Hyoudou get hold of Gremory?" the bald one demanded. Attempting to ignore them, Akira tried to continue walking forward only to find more male students surrounding him and forming a ring.

"He's remaining silent! Is this his way of affirming what you just said, Matsuda!" the bespectacled one shouted. With that, shouts began to erupt from all the other males surrounding him. Akira attempted to plough his way through the crowd but was pushed back into the centre of the ring by Matsuda.

"Come on you lot, let the guy through," Yui spoke up lazily, "don't mind them Kurusu. They just enjoy tormenting any boy hotter than them."

"We do not!" The two members of the perverted trio screamed in unison. Grabbing hold of Akira's hand, and pulled him through the ring of males that surround him. "I don't understand why you choose not to retaliate. The three of those perverts do not deserve to be in this school. Argh why hasn't the school board expelled them for peeping or something?" Yui muttered to Akira.

Leaving the crowd of male students behind them, Akira and Yui proceeded to purchase their meals for lunch.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

The delicious aroma of curry wafted through Akira's house as he finally completed his cooking. Breathing in the smell, Akira could not help but feel homesick. Homesick for his true home in Leblanc. "This smell sure reminds me of Leblanc. Hey Akira, don't forget to remain as inconspicuous as possible during dinner got it?" Morgana said as he padded up to Akira.

"Are you going to be wearing that? We are having guests over you know?" Akira's mother shouted upon seeing Akira in his school uniform. Shrugging, Akira replied, "I didn't have a chance to change after school."

"Well, can you go and put on something more presentable? They are going to be here any second." Akira's mother demanded.

Ding-dong!

The doorbell rang announcing the arrival of their guests. "Never mind the change of clothes. At least remove this glasses Akira, I don't see why you still choose to wear them." Akira's mother said as she went to welcome the Hyoudou family.

Removing his glasses with a sigh, Akira shot a glare at the sniggering Morgana sitting on the kitchen floor.

"Pardon the intrusion!" A chorus of four voices shouted. Frowning, Akira wondered why there were four voices when the Hyoudou family was a family of three as he moved into the living room. His answer came when he entered the living room. There, along with Hyoudou Issei, Mr and Mrs Hyoudou and his mother was Rias Gremory herself. Turning to face him, she grinned and said, "Someone here looks deep in thought."

 **[A/N] Hey everyone, hope that all of you have enjoyed this update. For those of you who are wondering why Yamata no Orochi seems so overpowered as compared to Black Frost, well, let's just say that is the way the High School DxD verse affects the Personas. Now then maybe I shall give a hint for the who the lady in the dream sequence is: She is not a shinto deity and that this 'she' might not actually be a she. Hope you all might guess it before my reveal! (Which is planned to be many chapters from now) Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**And Hell rose to claim it**_

 **27/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"What are you doing here?" Akira exclaimed at the crimson haired devil in front of him.

"Oh, you must be Akira-kun. Ise, come here and greet your senpai! My you are quite a handsome one aren't you Akira." Mrs Hyoudou gushed at Akira.

"Ah, I've see you have met our future daughter-in-law. I never would have imagined that I would ever get to say this. Even our Ise manage to find himself a girlfriend!" Mr Hyoudou said as tears of joy began to run down his face.

"Well, don't just stand there Akira. Go set the table and bring out the food! Come Gorou, Yukino, Issei and Rias; let's head to the dining room." Akira's mother said.

Grumbling under his breath, Akira returned to the kitchen and brought out the cutleries for the meal to the dining room. Before he could reenter the kitchen, Gremory rose from her seat and cheerfully said, "I'm going to help Kurusu-kun bring out the food!"

Upon entering the kitchen, Gremory paused in front of Morgana. Squatting down to bring herself closer to Morgana, she reached out her hand to scratch Morgana's chin. "Gah! Stop that you she-devil!" Morgana purred despite his words.

Giggling at Morgana, Gremory turned to Akira and asked, "Hey Kurusu-kun, is this cat yours?"

Nodding his head in reply, Akira lifted up the pot of curry and brought it into the dining room, where the rice cooker already sat. Upon lifting up the lid, the sweet aroma of curry filled the entire room. "That smells good Akira-kun. Did you manage to cook this by yourself?" Mrs Hyoudou asked.

Once again, Akira simply nodded his head as a reply. "Well then, shall we begin the meal?" Akira's mother asked.

"Thanks for the meal!" A chorus of voices shouted.

That had to be the most awkward meal of Akira's entire life. Unfortunately for him, he was sitting on the opposite side of Hyoudou Issei, who for some reason refused to make eye contact with him. Furthermore, there was a Rias Gremory sitting beside Issei that kept trying to catch his eye. His mother and Issei's parents were clearly hitting it off. The three of them were laughing at each other's stories and his mother had even made him bring out the sake to drink.

Raising his hand to loosen the damned ribbon on his uniform, Akira continued to watch the adults at the table. They were clearly having too much to drink. Akira could tell from the look on his mother's face that she was getting drunk. Then, just as Akira was about to escape from the table using the excuse of bringing out dessert, Mrs Hyoudou directed a question at him, "Akira-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask him that as well Yukino! I never did have a good chance to ask him about his love life when he came from Tokyo!" Akira's mother chuckled before she took another gulp of sake.

After that question from Mrs Hyoudou, all eyes at the table turned to look at him. Even Issei who had refused to make eye contact before was now studying him intently. Sighing, Akira said, "Yes, I do have a girlfriend. I'm going to take out the dessert now. Please excuse me."

With that, Akira quickly rose to his feet and rushed off towards the kitchen. The adults continued their conversation as though satisfied with Akira's answer and Issei and Gremory exchanged suspicious glances.

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Main Street]**

"I am glad that you have managed to arrive safely." Aigis said.

"It's nothing. Inaba is quite close to Kuoh. Still, I am quite surprised that Kirijo-san would submit this request to me. I was under the impression that the Kirijo Corporations would rather investigate matters on their own."

"Then I will be counting on you for help on this case, Naoto Shirogane."

* * *

 **27/3/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

"Thanks for having us! Rias, how would you be returning home?" Mrs Hyoudou said as the Hyoudou family were about to leave Akira's home.

"I will be heading in the other direction back home Mum. Thanks for having me today Mrs Kurusu and Kurusu-kun." Gremory said with a bow before leaving the house as well.

Once the Hyoudou family and Gremory had left the house, Akira's mother immediately pulled him back into the living room before pushing him into the sofa. After taking a deep breath, his mother shouted, "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?!"

Completely unfazed by his mother, Akira simply replied, "Well, you did not ask before so I assumed you did not wish to know."

"What do you mean I don't wish to know? I have to make sure that your girlfriend is not some biker girl. I mean you were in Tokyo for a year with a criminal record and even spent some time in juvie! What other kind of girl would you date?" his mother ranted.

Akira burst into laughter upon hearing his mother's outburst. Makoto as a biker girl? She could not have been more spot on. Stifling his laughter, he wheezed, "Makoto was the Student Council President of Shujin Academy, one of the school's pride and joy. No Mother, she is not a biker girl but she does love motorcycles!"

Akira stood and began to head to his room, leaving his shocked mother to process everything he just said. He was still in his school uniform and that damned ribbon was slowly beginning to suffocate him. Perhaps since Kuoh Academy was so lax with their uniforms, maybe he could try going without it tomorrow?

Just as Akira left the room, a tiny oni made its way out from underneath the sofa and scurried to the kitchen. Unluckily for it, a certain black and white cat was lurking in there. Both Morgana and the oni made eye contact with each other before a magic circle flared to life beneath the oni. Eyes widening slightly, Morgana leapt from his position, attempting to grab hold of the oni but his hands only managed to catch the purple sparkles that were the oni's only remains.

"I think we have a big problem coming our way." Morgana meowed as he felt a shiver run down his spine.

* * *

 **28/3/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Rias Gremory was normally a nice lady. However, the number one thing that would cause you to get on her bad side was messing with her peerage. Unfortunately for Akira, he had just done that.

It was currently lunch break and Rias was on the hunt for a certain Akira Kurusu (or Joker as he liked to call himself) throughout the school. She intended to bring the magician in for questioning under the pretence of introducing him to her club. Thanks to Akeno's familiar, Rias had managed to find out a little more about this Akira Kurusu. Of course, he had to be a delinquent who had done time in juvie as well.

Just as she turned into the hallway for the faculty office, she saw Akira make his way out of the staffroom. Rias immediately rushed up to Akira. "Hey Kurusu-kun, do you mind following me after school to my club? I thought that I should introduce you to my clubmates!" she chirped.

Barely batting an eye at her, Akira deadpanned, "Why should I even bother."

Scowling, Rias tiptoed to whisper into Akira's ear, "If you don't, I'm going to reveal your criminal record to the rest of the school Joker-kun."

That appeared to have gotten Akira's attention. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he said, "Fine. I shall see you after school."

Watching Akira walk away, Rias could not help but feel bad about herself. It was not in her nature to resort to blackmailing someone. However, she could not forgive someone who had hurt so many members of her peerage. Besides, she could not allow a magician to run amok in her town, could she?

* * *

 **28/3/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy, Old School Building]**

Akira was not in a good mood. Morgana had told him the night before that something had managed to listen in on everything that had been spoken the night before. As such, he had prepared for something like this.

As he walked into the Old School Building, Akira could feel a chill run down his spine. Somehow, he felt that there was something wrong in the building. Unlike the last time when he had 'visited', he felt oddly muted this time. Moving further into the building, he knocked on the door to the main room before entering.

Inside the room, Akira found himself with the entirety of Gremory's group. Sitting behind a newly replaced desk was Rias Gremory, who was calmly sipping her drink from a teacup. Akeno stood slightly behind her with her hand wrapped in a bandage. Kiba, whose right arm was in a sling, leaned against the wall and Akira could tell that he was glaring daggers at him. Koneko was indifferently sitting on a new sofa with Issei, who was tapping his feet nervously.

Since no one said a word, Akira decided to break the silence, "Well, I've liked what you've done to the place. You devils sure know how to clean up well. Wasn't there a black marking on this paint job a few days ago…"

Placing down her teacup, Gremory stared directly into Akira's eyes. "Akira Kurusu," she began, "a rogue magician with a criminal record that has been to juvie. Yes, we are aware that you are a rogue. I had Akeno check from the town's records and though we could find your name, it was not listed that you were a magician."

Standing up from her sit, Gremory began to move closer towards Akira. "You know Kurusu, I thought you were a pretty decent guy when you first entered the class. But now, after you've hurt my peerage, I don't think I can forgive that."

"You know, I believe that your peerage was the one that attacked me first, Gremory-san." Akira drawled as he narrowed his eyes.

"We have also received a few worrying reports of your powers. Supposedly, you had managed to summon the evil dragon, Yamata-no-orochi, into a street here in Kuoh. Akira Kurusu, I do not know why you are here but you better explain yourself now. I will not tolerate such a powerful rogue magician leaving in my city much less after hurting my peerage!" Gremory growled as she stopped directly in front of Akira.

"Ara ara, our Buchou has grown up so well! To think that she would be so forward with men." Akeno commented as she licked her lips.

Akeno's words caused Gremory's face to turn a bright shade of red, one that was almost as red as her face. "A… Akeno! I was trying to be serious and scary there!" she whined.

Staring incredulously at what had just occurred before him, Akira could not help but chuckle. To think that the girl who had been threatening him a few seconds ago could become so flustered in a moment. Turning towards Issei, Akira gestured towards him and questioned, "Oh yes. May I know why Hyoudou Issei is still alive and kicking? I'm pretty sure that I saw him get shot in the chest by a light spear."

This time, it was every other person's turn to look at Akira in disbelief. "What are you talking about? Surely you know that the Evil Piece system of us devils can reincarnate those with mortal wounds?" Gremory asked.

"I see." Akira replied simply.

"Anyway, we are getting off topic here. The main reason why I called you here was that us devils wanted to make a deal with you. If you agree to stay out of our way, we promise that we will leave you completely in course, you will need to be placed under constant surveillance by one of us. Do you agree to that, Kurusu-kun?" Gremory said.

"Why do I have to listen to you, Gremory-san. What's stopping me from summoning something and busting out of here?"

"I'm glad you asked," Gremory said with a smirk, "but unfortunately for you, I have placed a magic circle over the Old School Building that prevents the art of summoning. As such, you are trapped in here with us devils. Also, even if you manage to escape, we will release the information of your criminal record. I know how much that can ruin someone's life in school."

Silently, Akira accessed his current situation. His end goal was to get back to Tokyo safely at the end of the year to go to college there. To do that, he would have to ensure that he would not get into any trouble as well as to study hard. Maybe it was a fair enough deal. After all, he would be generally left in peace if he were to agree. Besides, he could also try to worm more information out of them.

"Fine, I agree to your terms. Also, may I know who will be observing me? It would be a little awkward for anyone from your peerage to do so." Akira said as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Well, lucky for you, the devil to observe you is no one from my peerage. Instead, she would be the one to do so." Gremory chuckled.

Almost as soon as those words left her mouth, the door to the room was slammed open. Into the room walked a certain blue haired Student Council President of Kuoh Academy. "I will be the your observer Kurusu. I hope that you are ready to join the Student's Council." Kaichou informed as her glasses gleamed in the lights of the room.

* * *

 **28/3/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Main Street]**

Sighing, Akira stretched his hands over his head as he made his way through the mostly empty streets of Kuoh. He should have expected that there would be more to the deal than meets the eye. Not only was he placed under observation, but he also had to join the Student's Council. The meetings would take place on Fridays and Kaichou said that she had already sorted it out with Yui.

Tomorrow would be the first day of his time in the Student's Council. Speaking of Student's Council, it has been a while since he had last had a private chat with Makoto. Although the Phantom Thieves messaging group is always buzzing with messages daily, it did not feel as personal as having a private one with his queen. Not saying that he did not enjoy the company of the others but he felt as though it has been a long time since they last talked privately.

Whipping out his phone, Akira sent her a quick message before continuing on his way home.

* * *

 **[My Queen]**

Akira: Hey there my dearest Queen, how are you doing?

Makoto: Ever the flatterer aren't you Akira? Always calling me that.

Akira: But of course my Queen. After all, I am but a nameless Joker in your court, isn't it right for me to flatter you?

Makoto: Is everything going well for you Akira?

Akira: Yep.

Akira: In fact, I just joined the Student Council.

Makoto: You? The Student Council? Now that's something I did not expect would happen. Were you forced to join it?

Akira: Actually, your deduction is spot on Makoto.

Makoto: Oh, I'm sorry Akira. I only meant it as a joke.

Akira: Oh yes, I also kind of told my mother about you? She seems to be really eager to meet you.

Makoto: She is? Guess I have to see her when we come visit you during summer break.

Makoto: Oh, I have to go Akira. I'll talk to you another time, I'm going to visit the church with Sis.

Akira: Never knew you were the type to go to church Makoto. Is something wrong?

* * *

 **28/3/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Akira's House]**

After typing that message, Akira placed his phone down as he turned to Morgana. He had been simultaneously informing Morgana of the day's events as well as messaging Makoto. "This is definitely a problem. I think it is safe to assume that I am not just a simple house cat. This means it won't be easy for me to spy on them either." Morgana said as he stretched out on Akira's bed.

"Yeah. It is going to be a problem. Looks like I will have to learn more about these devils through my interactions with them instead." Akira sighed as he picked up his school bag. He still had to do a little studying to ensure that he stayed ahead of the Kuoh Academy's already painfully slow teaching pace. He guessed that in terms of school, Shujin Academy was obviously the tougher one academically.

Throughout the time he spent studying, Akira could not get one thought out of his head. Since when did Makoto go to church? He was a hundred percent certain that he never saw her there once when he went to visit Hifumi and he was certain that she did not have a religion. He made a mental note to ask the other Phantom Thieves in Tokyo about it.

* * *

 **29/3/20XX, Friday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

Akira could not believe this. His time in the Student Council had begun with a club check up. Supposedly, all the clubs in Kuoh Academy had a mandatory random check up when the Student Council would go around to ensure that none of them were committing any 'illegal acts' as phrased by Kaichou. He did not remember the Student Council in Shujin having that much power...

He was paired up with a girl called Momo Hanakai and was dispatched to check on the clubs. Akira expected it to be an easy job. After all, shouldn't the clubs be smart enough to stay out of trouble? By the third club, Akira was feeling that he might have jinxed himself. The swimming club was caught wearing skimpy swimsuits rather than the school issued ones, the Manga drawing club was caught drawing Hentai and the Light Music Club was found drinking tea rather than practicing music.

When he and Momo finally returned to the Student Council room, Akira was deadbeat and could not wait to go home. He now had a feeling that this was Gremory's revenge, sending him to be a dog for another devil. Plopping himself down on the sofa in the room, he sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. The entire experience was rather boring as Momo did not even say much during their patrol. Akira did try to start a conversation with her but to no avail.

"How is Council work Kurusu? Aren't you enjoying yourself?" Kaichou chuckled as she entered the room.

"I like it about as much as that Light Music Club someone approved. Are Kuoh Academy students that desperate to find a way to slack off. They might as well have called it the 'Tea Drinking Club'." Akira grumbled.

Brushing of Akira's complaints, Kaichou turned her attention to the still silent Momo. "Hanakai, you may go and join the rest of the council at the tennis courts, from what I understand there is some issues with one of the club members. Kurusu will stay here and help me with some paperwork." Kaichou commanded.

Nodding her head at Kaichou, Momo did not spare Akira a second glance and left the Student Council room. Sitting down on the armchair opposite Akira, Kaichou folded her arms and started, "Kurusu, I have a job for you."

"What do you mean by that Kaichou? Don't tell me I actually have to tell the Light Music club that they have to shut down." Akira jokes.

"I am referring to something else. As you are aware, Rias is the owner of the entirety of Kuoh Town. Normally, I am certain that Rias would do a good job of keeping the peace in this town. However, as of late, there have been reports of an increase in Fallen Angel activity, especially around the school." Kaichou stated seriously.

"What I ask of you is simple. Should a day comes when the Fallen Angels attack the school, please, protect this school with all your power. I am certain that you have no love for devils, I can see it in your eyes. I am unsure what past experiences that you had with my kind but I wish that you will ignore that for now and protect the school. Not all of Kuoh Academy students are devils and I wish to protect all of them from the supernatural world. Please, will you agree to this?" Kaichou pleaded to Akira.

Akira was stunned by Kaichou's request. He had believed that all devils were selfish beings who did not care for human life. Yet, here is a devil pleading him to protect the humans in Kuoh Academy. As the Leader of the Phantom Thieves, what kind of person would he be if he forsook those that he swore to protect. Smiling for the first time at Kaichou, Akira answered, "Of course I will protect this school."

"Thank you Kurusu. You are dismissed for the day, head back home and rest well. If anything were to threaten the school, you shall receive my message immediately." Kaichou said.

Rising from his seat, Akira took his leave from the Student Council room. He was reevaluating all the thoughts that he had on devils. He had initially believed them to beings that would do anything for their own gain. He had refused to acknowledge that there was a chance that Gremory saving Hyoudou was something she did out of goodwill. Now, now he was considering all of these options to be possible.

Instead of quickly making his way out of school, Akira took a quick detour to class 1-C of the first years. When he entered the class, it was completely empty apart from a certain blonde haired robot sitting at the teacher's desk. Pulling out his phone and opening the recording app, Akira told Aigis, "Palladion-sensei, looks like I have something to report."

* * *

 **[Ryuji]**

Akira: Hey man.

Akira: Did Makoto ever tell you or the other Phantom Thieves anything about going to church?

Ryuji: Church? Never heard her say anything bout that

Ryuji: I mean not to be rude or anything but shouldn't you know best out of all of us? I mean you guys are dating and stuff.

Akira: She hasn't told me anything.

Ryuji: Then again, she also hasn't been turning up that often for get togethers.

Ryuji: But I think it ain't mean anything. Noir has also been complaining about how busy college gets too.

Akira: I see, thanks man.

Ryuji: Anytime bro! Can't wait to see ya in person!

* * *

 **3/4/20XX, Wednesday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy]**

It had been a fairly uneventful week for Akira. He couldn't believe how boring it was without his friends or the Metaverse. He had practically hours in the afternoon to burn away, having already perfected his time management skills in Tokyo. Somehow, he could not adapt back to the slow pace of life in the country.

At the moment, he was currently cooling down after another track practice with Yui. The other few members of the track team still had not appeared. Upon seeing his timing for the 400m sprint, Yui got all excited that Kuoh Academy might finally be able to compete in Kyoto thanks to him. Akira couldn't bring himself to burst her bubble that he probably would not be able to leave town till next year…

"Kurusu-kun! Do you happen to have a moment?" A voice called out to him. Glancing around, Akira found the source of the voice to be Palladion-sensei. Upon seeing that a teacher was looking for him, Yui excused herself and said that she was going to wash up, leaving Akira alone with Palladion-sensei.

"Kurusu-kun, we have some new information. The Fallen Angels are currently gathered in the abandoned church on the outskirts of town. Ms Kirijo requests your particular set of skills to help to scout the church. We do not require you to enter the church itself, you are to only observe it." Palladion-sensei rattled to Akira.

"Before you think of declining it, you were the one who approached us first Kurusu-kun back when you needed help. This is also a part of our mutual agreement to find out more about these devils." Palladion-sensei continued without waiting for a reply from Akira.

"Fine, I mean it's not like you give me much of a choice anyway." Akira said as he continued his cool down. Akira knew it was a bad idea to ask them for help but Morgana had insisted that he did if he was discovered by the devils. Akira was definitely bringing that lazy feline on the scouting mission, would be better for Morgana than staying at home and growing fat.

* * *

 **4/4/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Abandoned Church]**

Atop one of the forested hills in Kuoh Town was a church. None of the townsfolk had any idea how it had ended up there in the first place. Although it never did appear on the town's plans, the church had stood there since Akira's grandparents were children.

Leaning against one of the trees closer to the clearing of the church, Akira quietly observed the church. On the surface, it looked like a regular abandoned church with the stained glass with art of various holy beings on them. However, something that was missing from the church was the cross that should normally decorate the entrance.

"Can we go back now Akira? This forest stinks and something about it is making me itch all over! Come on, there's nothing to see here." Morgana complained as he sulked by Akira's sides.

Just then, Akira saw three new figures burst out of the forest and were racing straight into the church. From his position, Akira could easily recognise them as Hyoudou, Koneko and Kiba, all members of Gremory's peerage. Not long after they entered the church, he could hear the sounds of battle coming from inside the church and the flares of light spears. "Looks like they got this covered Morgana, come on, let's go home." Akira said as he prepared to take his leave.

A sudden rush of magic coming from the church stopped Akira in his tracks. Turning back to the church, he felt as though a deadly silence fell upon it. Then, the screaming begin. It was not the voice of any of Gremory's peerage members but instead seemed to belong to that of a young girl. Another blast of magic radiated from the church and he could feel an immense pressure radiating from the church. "Change of plans. Let's get going, Mona!" Akira shouted as he too began to run to the church.

* * *

 **4/4/20XX, Thursday**

 **[Kuoh Town, Abandoned Church]**

Hyoudou Issei could not believe the sight that lay before him. Asia, the beautiful blonde nun that he had came here to save, was writhing in pain within some sort of magic circle. An item glowing with a green like appeared to be manifesting over her, the green sharply contrasting with the purple magic circle beneath her.

Once again, the magic circle pulsed and Asia's screams reach a new octave. Pointing at his murderous ex-girlfriend, Raynare, hovering over Asia, Issei screamed, "Let her go Raynare!"

"Now, now Issei-kun. All of you will have your chance to die. The ritual is practically complete and I will soon be impossible to defeat for any of you three. Perhaps if you did not bring injured teammates, you might have stood a better chance." Raynare snickered as she stared at the three members of the Gremory peerage.

Upon hearing her words, Kiba began to clutch his injured arm and Koneko kept holding onto her chest as though she was having trouble breathing. Issei himself had practically ran out of magic power by simply defeated three other fallen angels. At that moment, Issei knew that it would be impossible for the three of them to win. Oh, if only he had listened to Buchou!

"Oh look, my gift is practically done. Looks like all of you get to die earlier than expected!" Raynare cheered.

The previously flickering object over Asia's head had solidified and the pulsing from the magic circle beneath her was getting weaker and weaker. Just as the Gremory peerage felt there was no way out of this, the stained windows behind Raynare shattered. Glass shards began to decorate the ground as two figures rose to their feet. The smaller one shouted, "Mercurius, Mediarahan!"

A green light enveloped the entirety of the Gremory group, healing most of their wounds. The taller figure tightened the red gloves around his hands as he made his way closer to a shocked Raynare. Raising a hand to the mask atop his face, he roared, "Come, Seth!"

A roar shook the entire church as blue flames began to rise. Then, a truly terrifying sight appeared before all in the church. Leathery black wings were beating against the air as the monster rose up from the flames. Opening its maw, the huge black dragon let out a roar at Raynare.

" _I am thou and thou art I._

 _I am the God of Evil, Seth._

 _As per our contract, I have arised from the sea of your soul._

 _Now, show your foes the true meaning of_

 _Death and destruction!_ "

When Raynare turned to look at the monster's summoner again, she was shocked to find that in the face that was completely shrouded in flames, she could still see an eye. A single eye burning with hatred and anger. Pointing at Raynare, Joker intoned, "Ravage her Seth, Maragidyne!"

 **[A/N] Hey guys, thanks once again for reading this update! This took a lot more time to complete then I expected due to me getting busy again. However, I will continue to update at least once per month. As all of you (hopefully) remember, I gave a hint last chapter about who the dream sequence lady was. I'm just gonna say at this point that there are very close answers but none of them are correct at the moment. This time I will ask all of you a different question: Why would Makoto go to church?**

 **Hope all of you enjoyed this chapter! See all of you guys in the next update! Sorry about the cliffhanger ending btw.**


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